Reader's Digest Association rebrands as Trusted Media Brands

Reader's Digest Association has dropped the name of its most famous publication to become Trusted Media Brands Inc., a title that the company feels better reflects the business it's in and its future. A story in AdAge reports that the idea is to battle the common assumption that this is principally a one-title publishers when, in fact, things have changed dramatically in the last few years in the privately held company has relied more on publishing a wide range of titles and sites such as Taste of Home, Country Woman, Birds & Blooms, Taste and The Family Handyman.

"It's not at all about distancing us from Reader's Digest," said [Bonnie] Kintzer [CEO]. "It's about having a name of a company that actually states who you are. At the end of the day, 99% of people will think that the one brand Reader's Digest Association has is Reader's Digest." 

Today there are 52 websites at the company, which says unique monthly visits have grown 70% over the past 24 months. Mobile uniques are also up 186%, according to the company. Its properties as a whole draw 53 million uniques, have 40 million social media fans and 40 million print readers, according to the company. In addition, there's little overlap -- around 3% or 4% -- between print and online readers, the company says.

The U.S. paid-and-verified circulation of RDA titles averaged 8.9 million and Reader's Digest itself averaged 2.7 million in the first 6 months of the year, according to data released by the Alliance for Audited Media. The English Canadian edition of Reader's Digest reports an average issue audience (print and online) of 3,909,000; the French edition Sélection du Reader's Digest 647,000, according to the spring release of Print Measurement Bureau data.

At one point in the mid-1970s RD had a circulation of 17 million, second only to TV Guide as the most-read publication. 

Transcontinental rebrands itself

Transcontinental, the publisher of many of Canada's largest consumer magazines, has rebranded and its magazine publishing arm will be known as TC.Media and the parent company will be TC.Transcontinental (the printing division will be TC.Transcontinental Printing).

"Our new brand launch is a logical milestone in the disciplined roll-out of the development plan we began implementing in 2008 to strengthen our core operations and build new marketing communications services," said François Olivier, President and CEO of TC. Transcontinental.

Here's how the company's press release positioned the new brand, which was created by Cohesion Strategies, a Montreal-based consultancy specialized in brand strategy, and Bleublancrouge, a Montreal-based advertising and design agency:

Beyond the truncation of the word Transcontinental, the ‘t’ in the new ‘tc’ stands for technology, while the ‘c’ represents community. In the chosen typography, the bold, upright ‘t’ embodies confidence and solidity. The ‘c’, with its generous opening, signifies willingness to communicate. The red dot from the former logo is transformed into a black one, which represents the digital economy as well as the point of contact between the company and its customers. The logo is black or white, depending on context and usage. Keeping the main typographic element devoid of color will allow the use of various colors to illustrate sub-brands.

Reader's Digest comes out on top in brand status and strength

Reader's Digest magazine has announced that it achieved the highest score of any magazine brand measured in Canada's largest independent brand equity survey. The BrandAsset Valuator® is a proprietary study conducted by Young & Rubicam Canada Ltd. and among the magazines included, RD came out with the highest score in terms of brand strength and brand status.  [The graphic above has been adapted, with permission.] The 2010 results are based upon a survey of 6,694 respondents nationwide in English and French, looking at 661 individual brands based on 72 different brand metrics. An equivalent is conducted in the U.S. with 16,000 respondents and the BAV is also conducted in 49 other countries.

Sports Illustrated magazine compiles every cover it ever published into one book

Sport Illustrated magazine has compiled every cover it ever published into one book. There are more than 2,500 colour photographs in the 208-page Sports Illustrated: The Covers. [from Folio:]

According to Sports Illustrated group editor Terry McDonnell, the book is more than just a simple collection of covers. He says it “chronicles the changing sports panorama and landscape over the last 55 years. An SI cover often becomes an instant pop icon and this book features some of the most loved, memorable and controversial cover images over the decades.”

Meredith Corporation rebrands to reflect emphasis on cross-platform marketing

Meredith Corporation, long known as one of the pre-eminent magazine publishing companies, is re-branding itself to shift the emphasis to its capabilities beyond print.

According to a company release the Better Homes & Gardens behemoth has created a new logo (shown) and is promoting its offerings in cross platform, and integrated marketing and renaming some of its divisions; for instance, the publishing division will now be called National Media Brands and its broadcast division will be called Meredith Local Media Brands.

Meredith President and CEO Steve Lacy said: "Meredith has evolved into a multifaceted media and marketing company. This updated positioning and logo better reflect our ability to engage customers and marketers in meaningful and mutually beneficial dialogues across multiple platforms."

Circulation Management to become Audience Development

Circulation Management magazine, considered something of a bible for circulators and publishers, is changing its name to Audience Development effective with the November issue. According to a post from trade journalism blogger Paul Conley, the name change reflects changes in the industry.

I applaud the move. There can be no doubt that the jobs and tasks of what we once called the circulation department have morphed into something more complex, more challenging and more exciting in today's multi-platform world.

Conley raises the interesting question whether sister publication Folio: (both are published by Red 7 Media) might also change its name, given that it is a word so closely tied with print.

Related posts:

• Circulation Management Rebrands as Audience Development
  (Folio:)

Pale shadow of LIFE snuffed out

Time Inc. has announced that the venerable title LIFE will cease publication -- again -- effective April 20. There are many who have felt that the magazine, which had a glorious history as the pre-eminent picture magazine, had been suffering sort of a living death as a stripped-down newspaper supplement.

Now, the name and image will only appear online as a photography portal and in certain branded books and collections. The only good news? That LIFE's enormous archive of 10 million images will be available online, free for private use.
LIFE was re-launched as a newspaper supplement in 2004 and is carried in 103 newspapers with a total circulation of 13 million, the company said.

"While consumers responded enthusiastically to LIFE, with the decline in the newspaper business, and the outlook for advertising growth in the newspaper supplement category, the response was not strong enough to warrant further investment in LIFE as a weekly newspaper supplement," Time Inc. said in a statement.

LIFE, launched in 1936, was a weekly until 1972 when it went on hiatus and then re-appeared as a monthly, which also folded but then was revived as a supplement. The magazine had not been doing well financially, down 9.2% in advertising revenue and 21.3% in ad pages through February, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

"LIFE magazine was a truly innovative publishing venture. It was developed, edited and published by some of the best talent in the business and we can remain proud of its many achievements. But sometimes we have to make tough calls, and this was one," said Time Inc. Chairman, CEO Ann Moore in a statement. "Growth requires taking risks and the potential upside was huge, but unfortunately the timing worked against us. The market has moved dramatically since October 2004 and it is no longer appropriate to continue publication of LIFE as a newspaper supplement. However, Time Inc. remains committed to the LIFE brand, and we will now be concentrating on migrating this iconic brand in many innovative ways on multiple digital platforms."

The company said LIFE "will continue with its plan to launch a major portal to put its entire collection of 10 million images online. The most important collection of imagery covering the events and the people of the 20th century will be made available to the public for personal use at no cost. More than 97% of this collection has never been seen by the public and contains the works of such master photographers as Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White and Gordon Parks, among others. LIFE's online site, to be launched later this year, will become the preeminent destination to view the most important photography of our time, both archival and contemporary."